Opal Irene Whiteley was an American nature writer and diarist who gained international fame for the publication of her childhood diary, which featured meditations and observations of nature and wildlife. Raised in logging camps in rural Oregon, Whiteley was considered by some a child prodigy, and expressed intense interest in both writing and science in her youth. As an adolescent, she began tutoring and holding lectures on natural history and geology in her community, earning a reputation as an amateur naturalist, as well as becoming a noted speaker for the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour.

Napsbury Hospital was a mental health facility near London Colney in Hertfordshire. It had two sister institutions, Harperbury Hospital and Shenley Hospital, within a few miles of its location.